Rich Wojcikowski, the 57-year-old manager who ran the day-to-day operations of Bookie’s Chicago in West Beverly, has died following a crash on Governors Highway north of University Parkway in University Park. Wojcikowski, who lived in Park Forest, was killed shortly before 1 p.m. on September 4, according to the Will County Coroner’s Office.
According to ABC7 Chicago, Wojcikowski was officially pronounced dead at 12:45 p.m. on the stretch of Governors Highway where the collision occurred, a corridor that, per Cook County transportation records, serves as a primary commuter artery linking southern Cook County communities like Park Forest with University Park in Will County. Bookie’s owner Keith Lewis identified Wojcikowski as the person killed in the crash and said he had worked at the store for nearly a decade, describing him as the backbone of the West Beverly bookstore.
Lewis praised Wojcikowski as genuine, capable, professional and organized, and said Wojcikowski was the yin to his yang. “It will be nearly impossible to go on without” him, Lewis said, according to the same report. Wojcikowski managed the store’s employees, built storage and other fixtures inside the shop, and represented Bookie’s throughout the community — attending school book fairs, hand-delivering books to customers, and delivering checks to community organizations.
A Former Teacher Who Championed Independent Writers
Before joining Bookie’s, Wojcikowski taught English to high school students, and Chicago-area authors have since praised him for championing independent writers and helping build Bookie’s into a South Side cultural fixture, according to Patch. His work extended well beyond the sales floor. Per Southwest Regional Publishing, Wojcikowski managed Bookie’s school book fair program, which returned 50 percent of fair sales directly back to host schools and donated $2,454 to local schools over a 10-day span in June 2025…